Oil Paintings by Paul Bremer
L. Paul (Jerry) Bremer was born and raised in New England. His family lived in Connecticut where he began his education which eventually took him to Massachusetts and then overseas to France. Bremer’s father, a businessman, had a modest collection of contemporary French art and his mother was a professional photographer who also taught art history.
“I grew up in an art-loving environment. But it was my first class in art history freshman year at college which really opened my eyes to the world of art. From freshman year on, I looked forward each year to another art history class.”
While he was at college, Bremer also continued his study of French and he spent several summers in France on summer jobs. After graduating from college, he studied in Paris for a year where he was able to see first-hand many pieces by the great French impressionist painters.
Bremer’s first and lasting love is landscapes painted by the French and American impressionists who worked at the end of the 19th century. “What first attracted me to them were the works of Paul Cezanne and Claude Monet which can be found in many museums all over Paris and other parts of France. I also loved the works of Americans Childe Hassam and Mary Cassatt which, like the French impressionists, captivated me with their bright colors and evocative landscapes. There is an appealing tranquility in their works. These great artists had found a way to recreate in two dimensions the beauty and complexity of three-dimensional nature.”
But for decades, Bremer had to postpone any thoughts of becoming an artist as he pursued a 40-year career as an American diplomat and businessman. During that time, he and his wife, Frances Bremer, saw service in Asia, Africa, Europe and the US.
“Only after that career ended could I turn to a new career as an artist. I started by trying to teach myself to paint. I benefited from assistance from Francie, who had started oil painting some years earlier and who gave me lots of good advice…the most important of which was to seek professional help.”
So ten years ago Bremer began taking oil painting classes at several art schools in the Washington DC area where he and his wife live.
“Once I started painting landscapes, I found that it was a surprisingly effective form of stress management. When I’m in front of the canvas, with several bushes and a palette in hand and Bach in the background, I am in another world. It’s an escape of sorts, which allows me to translate what I am looking at into a picture which I hope others will also enjoy”
Bremer has continued his love affair with New England. He and his wife have bought a 170-year-old house in Vermont where they spend summers and most of the winter. “The landscapes of New England are a wonderful subject to paint. Like the impressionists, I like strong colors--there’s nothing like a New England winter landscape, with the clear bright light creating the vibrant contrast of red barns and houses against white snow and bright blue New England skies.”
Bremer works only in oil paint, and occasionally branches out to paint subjects other than landscapes. His paintings depict scenes of all four seasons from New England and many other parts of the United States, Europe and the Middle East. There is a wide selection of Bremer’s works in the four seasons galleries on this website. All the paintings shown are for sale, except those already in private collections.
